Nora's Wakeup Call
by changingdestiny40
Summary: While visiting her new friend Thea Queen, Nora receives a big wakeup call, with certain truths added, from the other woman in regards to working with Thawne and why what she's doing is wrong, Thea persuading her to confess and take responsibility for it.


**This thought came to me recently, but I suddenly felt like writing a one shot in which Nora's convinced by Thea to tell her parents the truth about working with Thawne, the latter using her own wrongdoing in trusting Malcolm and continuing to be beside him for a time despite knowing everything Malcolm's done while not being truthful to her brother or Team Arrow about it to convince Nora to come clean. **

**I also mainly wrote this in order to point to how and why Thea's actions are not only to similar to Nora's but also worse. And here we go.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own "The Flash" or Thea.**

Nora had sped over to Star City in order to take in the sites and meet up with her new friend, Thea Queen, AKA the legendary Speedy, for some girl time together. Thea and Roy were currently taking a break from searching for then destroying Lazarus Pits and visiting their loved ones. While there, Thea had called Nora up and asked if she wanted to hang out together and Nora said yes. They were currently inside of Oliver's home, where Thea was staying, the two women drinking some refreshing pina coladas.

"So how are things going with your family and the team over in Central City?", Thea asked her friend while sipping on her drink.

"They're great. Hanging out with dad has been a blast and he even took me out to skate", Nora smiled. "We're also doing everything we can to take down Cicada II and will hopefully catch a break and finally apprehend her". She suddenly noticed that the other woman was looking at her with confusion.

"Cicada II? Her? I thought Cicada was some guy named Orlon Dwyer. How the heck is he a woman and why'd you refer to him as Cicada II?

"Yeah, about that, Orlon decided to take the meta human cure Cisco created but it seems that a villainous and future version of his niece, Grace, arrived to our time and has been wreaking havoc", Nora explained. "And she's far more monstrous and more insane than her uncle ever was. That's why it's imperative that all of us catch her as soon as possible."

Thea was about to make some funny, sarcastic comment about time travel and psycho serial killers when Nora's last words repeated in her mind.

"When you say 'all of us', who do you mean?", she asked her friend, curious.

"Just my parents, the team, and Thawne", Nora answered without thinking. Thea's eyes widened.

"Thawne? As in that psycho speedster who murdered your grandmother and has made your family's life a living hell over the years?" Thea asked with shock, wondering what Nora was thinking. The other woman cringed, realizing her slip up.

"Um yeah, Thawne's been helping me. But it's totally alright since he wants to help me save dad", Nora said, then quickly added, trying to reassure her friend and get her to understand. "You see, dad's destined to disappear in a few years during a very destructive war known as the Crisis On Infinite Earths, sacrificing himself to save everyone and also his past self as a child. I don't want that to happen. I really want him to be a part of my life and to see me grow up.

"Thawne helped me to catch another dangerous speedster who murdered my best friend and some weeks afterward, he offered to help me change the timeline so that dad would not disappear, telling me that the key to doing it would be to destroy Cicada's dagger. Plus as a bonus, we'd erase him from the timeline so that he wouldn't be around in the present. Little did I know that 'he' was actually his insane niece Grace, having taken her uncle's mantle."

Thea listened, understanding, but was still confused about something important.

"I get where you're coming from, but since you clearly now know that Thawne murdered your grandmother and tormented your family, why would you keep working with him?", she asked, wondering what was wrong with her.

"Yeah Thea, I now know what he did but you see, he said he's changed, that he's truly sorry for his actions and really wants redemption. That he doesn't want his legacy to be that of a villain and a murderer and that stopping Cicada and saving dad is his way to atone for his sins. If he hadn't shown repentance then I wouldn't be working with him but he said that he wants to be different, and that he wants to go out doing something good as a sign of his repentance before his approaching death.

"I also spoke with dad and even asked him, before making my decision, if Thawne could change and he himself said that if the circumstances were right then perhaps Thawne himself could change. That not only helped me make my decision about working with him but also helped me to understand that villains can change, including a young woman who I turned in because I refused to believe she could change. But then I realized that she was actually repentant and so I ended up giving her a second chance.

"I know what Thawne did and in no way condone his actions, but what's wrong with continuing to work with him anyway if he's truly changed and wants redemption, choosing to turn from the darkness and deciding to spend his last moments on Earth wanting to do something good, especially if it involves saving dad?"

Thea just shook her head, sighing deeply, and then turned fully towards her friend.

"Nora, you've got to understand something. What you're doing is wrong and the reason is because you're literally helping your dad's mortal enemy pull the strings behind your family's actions, and yes", Thea quickly added when Nora moved to interrupt her, "you might not see it like that but if he's using you for whatever his plan is and working through you to get your dad and the team to play along, then you're literally helping their worst enemy in getting them to follow his script, which is not only a betrayal but an even bigger one since you're a part of their family. How would you feel if someone helped your worst enemy do that to you regardless of intent and even if that enemy has changed and gotten redemption, and especially if that someone was lying to you all along?

"Not only that, but you've clearly been lying to your parents and friends about all of this which means that your relationships with them, while no doubt genuine and real, and I assume you're truly enjoying your time with them and learning from them, your dad especially, are also based upon lies and especially since you're not being completely honest with them. Repeated lying is wrong, and especially if it involves helping their enemy move them around behind their back."

Thea paused, taking a deep breath, and then continued.

"As for Thawne claiming that he's repented, something in my gut tells me that he's probably not and that you're being played for an idiot. After all, what would Thawne gain from helping to save your dad? From what I know, he hates him with a burning passion and it's always been his goal to destroy him. Why would he want to destroy another chance for him to end his enemy? I mean yeah, it's possible that he's truly repented and wants to make amends for everything, especially since as you said, he's going to die, but somehow I doubt it.

"I'm also going to assume that at some point recently your family told you more about Thawne in that he's a master manipulator, knows how to get into people's head, preys upon their emotions, and makes you think that he's your friend and truly, deeply cares for you. They've probably also told you that he's a career con artist and did the same thing to your dad during his first year as the Flash. And you mean to tell me that you decided to continue working with him and took his claim of repentance at face value despite everything your family's told you about him and how he operates, especially in regards to mental manipulation? Are you really that foolish?"

Nora listened to what Thea was saying, starting to realize that the other woman was making some very good points and that she hadn't thought this through. And yes, her parents and friends had explained more things to her about Thawne to her after the stuff with the former Weather Witch and before she agreed to continue helping Thawne, and they'd all told her about his tactics in manipulation, twisting the truth, and how easy it was to get her dad to trust him, even being almost a father figure to him under the guise of "Dr. Wells". And she suddenly realized that it almost mirrored the relationship she had with him in the future.

"I, I, didn't think of all of that", Nora slightly stuttered in realization. "You've just made some very good points and I really did not think things through in regards to Thawne. I was just more focused on saving dad that I was willing to take the help of anyone regardless of the consequences. And now after what you've made clear to me, and especially my family did tell me about Thawne using the tactics of psychological manipulation, twisting the truth, and fatherliness, I'm suddenly not sure if he was even truly helping me. And yeah, you're right in that lying to my family is not the way to go."

"No, it isn't", Thea agreed firmly. "And even if Thawne had changed, you're still lying to your family and there are those out there who'd consider that, along with you helping Thawne to secretly direct your own family, and especially since they're your family, to be unforgivable." She then sighed, and decided to tell Nora about a similar situation she was in.

"You know, I did a similar thing to my loved ones that you're doing to your own family. I trusted someone I should not have and gave him my full allegiance, and that someone was my birth father, Malcolm Merlyn."

Nora looked at her, astonished.

"Malcolm Merlyn, that psycho arrogant supervillain who blew up the Glades?", she asked in surprise, having no idea that he was Thea's actual father.

"Yep, the very same guy. I willingly went away with him and cultivated a relationship with him. What I did however was worse than what you're doing because unlike you, who did not fully know what kind of person Thawne was at the beginning, I actually knew the whole truth about Malcolm since day one. Heck, everyone knew it. Yet despite that I gave myself to him freely and readily, creating a strong familial relationship with him and acting like he was better than Oliver, my own brother who loved me, and even Roy, the man I loved and still love.

"And unlike you, I wasn't even with Malcolm to help or to rescue anyone and unlike Thawne, he never even pretended to show real, true repentance for the horrible crimes he committed like his Undertaking in particular, not even once. Yet despite all of that, and even with the knowledge that he facilitated the murder of my true father, regardless of blood, and someone who truly loved and cared about me even though he didn't have to since I was not his blood, I still stood with him, I and my real father's murderer and my brother's then arch enemy side by side together. And I kept going back to Malcolm again and again despite this knowledge while lying and keeping it secret from Ollie, Roy, and Laurel.

"Of course the reason I behaved like that was because I resented my brother for not telling me the truth about my parentage, but the reason he didn't was so that I wouldn't be hurt and therefore did it out of love. But instead of seeing it like that, I betrayed him in the worst possible way by putting a mass murderer on a pedestal over my own brother and that was a true betrayal and frankly unforgivable, perhaps more so than your actions considering our respective motivations.

"Of course there was a high price for me to pay when it turned out that my so called dad had been manipulating me since day 1 and used me to murder a dear friend of mine and I didn't even know it. It's what finally caused me to see reason and turn my back on that bas****", but I will have to live with it for the rest of my life. As for you, how do you know that Thawne might be using you to hurt your dad in some way, perhaps even use you to murder him since I can see him doing something as sick as that. Honestly Nora, how could you be so stupid!?", Thea almost shouted.

Nora winced, knowing that her friend was speaking nothing but the truth, and she suddenly started to feel a little sick, especially after Thea's last words. She really wanted to believe Thawne had changed but was now filled with more doubts than ever.

"My gosh. You're totally correct and I really have been so dumb", Nora exclaimed. "I should've been more careful and smarter, and not so naive. I'm still uncertain about Thawne but am now starting to think you may be right about him. And oh my gosh, what if he was indeed using me to hurt dad, or worse? I just wanted to see the good in him, you know, just as I was able to see the good in Weather Witch."

Thea looked at the other woman with a bit of pity, and reached forward and gently took her hand in hers.

"I know, and it's good that you want to see the good in others and that's one of the things that makes a true hero, but you also need to be cautious and be extra careful as to who you place your trust in. In fact there's a very good saying, in that you should be as gentle as a dove, I think, but as wise as a serpent. You cannot be only one or the other. And in regards to my relationship with Malcolm, it's frankly astonishing that Ollie and my loved ones not only completely forgave me and gave me another chance but didn't even give me any consequences or put me under any kind of disciplinary action or anything like it. Of course they perhaps felt sorry for me since I was drugged into murdering someone and they felt that was consequences enough, but Ollie would've been in his rights to lay down the law on me over being with Malcolm."

Nora listened to everything Thea had told her, and was also surprised that her friend had gotten off easily. She then shuddered to think of how her parents would react if he knew the truth and felt that it would not be pretty. She then had a horrifying image of her dad locking her inside of the Pipeline while her mom did not do anything and turning his back on her, her parents also very angry that Sherloque, if he somehow knew, had not told them sooner. And to make the vision worse, her mom might release her but with a firm warning of not making her regret it while those words come out in an almost cold manner towards her.

Frankly her dad locking her away and her mom agreeing with it, not speaking up for her at that moment, and only letting her out with a no nonsense warning while almost being somewhat cold about it was a frightening thought and something she didn't want to think about. With that in mind, she looked at her friend with a resolute expression.

"You know what? I'm going to come clean to my parents and the rest of the team and confess what I've been doing. I should've been more careful with Thawne and especially after what they told me about his lies, deceit, and projecting a certain image to fool someone, and I also should not be lying to them about this. What I was doing was wrong and especially in regards to the lying and I'm going to confess. And thanks so much for knocking some sense into me."

Thea smiled at the other woman, and gave her hand an encouraging squeeze.

"I'm glad to hear that, and you really should come clean. It doesn't mean that you should stop trying to find the best in people and I'd like to add that I don't think it's wrong for a hero to help a former villain if they've truly and completely turned away from the darkness and to the light while genuinely wanting to atone for their sins, but you still have to be shrewd about these matters and, in particular, judge them by their fruits, especially in regards to their ultimate endgame. It can be hard to do, but you still need to keep all eyes open and trust your gut instincts.

"Furthermore, lying is not the way to go, and especially for months, and if your parents decide to discipline you then they'd be within their rights to do so, especially since when an offspring does something wrong the parents do discipline or punish them, though your parents might also understand your point of view in regards to why you did what you did. But you have to tell them the truth."

Nora agreed, and the two women continued conversing while also continuing to enjoy their delicious drinks. Afterwards Thea offered to accompany Nora when she confessed but she answered and said that she needed to do it on her own.

Needless to say, her parents and the team, following her confession, were very upset with her except for her Grandma Cecile, upset being an understatement, and her parents reaction was exactly as Nora feared in that they locked her inside of the pipeline. It was a heartbreaking moment for her but she knew she deserved it. Iris would later be merciful to her and release her but only with a firm, no nonsense, almost cold warning to not make her regret it, sending shivers down Nora's spine.

After being released, Nora continued to confess and explained everything to her loved ones in regards to her motives, why she kept working with Thawne, her desire to save her dad, and her original belief that Thawne had repented and changed and that she wouldn't have continued with him if she thought he hadn't. She however also told them how Thea had enabled her to see things differently and opened her eyes as to why what she was doing was wrong and how Thea used her own foolishness with Malcolm to get Nora to see reason.

She also apologized profusely for everything, especially for the lying, showing true repentance, while also acknowledging her stupidity for believing Thawne after her family had already explained to her about him being a master manipulator, getting into people's heads, and being able to project a certain façade in order to get people to trust him. And she apologized with her whole heart for helping Thawne move her family around as a part of his purposes, even if she hadn't known that before Thea got her to wake up.

Seeing that her intentions were pure, her desperation in saving her dad, them acknowledging that she more than likely wouldn't have continued helping Thawne if he hadn't projected an image of remorse and atonement and, most importantly, the fact that Nora had confessed on her own, was truly sorry, genuinely repentant, clearly understood as to why her actions were wrong and having taken complete responsibility, her family and the team forgave her and gave her another chance.

Actions do have consequences however, and as punishment Barry, in addition to a firm scolding, had her wear a meta-human power dampener and forbade her from using her powers outside of missions. And for security reasons in order to be on the safe side, she'd always have to have an escort with her wherever she went.

Plus, and in case of the, albeit unlikely, event that she ever foolishly decided to go back to Thawne, he forbade her from returning to the future for the time being. At one point early on, he'd been so mad that he had briefly though of sending her back to the future but on second thought and from a strategic and professional standpoint, that would be a terrible idea. Sensing her back to the future would more than likely place her back in Thawne's hands and even he forbade her from returning to the present, Thawne was a crafty bas**** and could probably figure out a way around that or worse, try and corrupt his baby girl.

Plus as a leader, if you catch someone aiding and abetting the enemy, and even if they have not repented, Barry was wise enough to know that you don't exile them by sending them back to where they were sent, especially if it was somewhere that their evil handler was. You keep the offender next to you where you can keep an eye on them at all times.

Nora agreed to and accepted the restrictions and it would be a few months before they were lifted, those months spent with Nora proving that she'd changed and learned her lesson.

Barry and the others were also very grateful that Thea had been around to knock some sense into Nora though he also, on his part, wondered as to why his good friend Oliver had not taken firm measures with Thea like he'd done with Nora, especially since he agreed that the former's actions with Malcolm were indeed much worse than his daughter's actions with Thawne.

In addition, Team Flash succeeded in that both evil Grace from the future and Thawne himself, who turned out to have been up to his old tricks after all, were stopped and dealt with, Barry did not disappear while Oliver, contrary to what fate had planned, didn't die, and Nora learned a very valuable lesson in regards to honesty and being extra careful as to who she put her trust in and how she could've lost all that was most precious to her if she'd continued to make the wrong decisions. And it was a lesson she'd remember forever.

**The End**

**A/N Regarding Iris, I now consider her to be involved with Nora being locked up since she did not try to stop Barry from doing so and nor did she show anger or opposition over the lockup, she was as angry as he was with Sherloque over not telling them about Nora sooner, and when she did release her, Iris gave her a firm, almost cold warning over not making her regret it. Therefore from this observation, Nora was more or less locked away by both of her parents.**

**As to the debate of whether or not Barry and Iris were either too harsh in locking her up or did what was necessary, we all have to remember that actions have consequences and if an offspring does wrong, the parents are going to discipline or punish them. Plus as a leader, Barry needed to take the appropriate security measures since Nora, by her own actions, was compromised.**

**I've also written a companion piece to this, but self-contained and in its own universe, entitled "Hard Consequences For Thea".**

**Before I go, I'd like to say something to those among my fellow West-Allen fans who're, regrettably, still bullying my colleagues:**

**SHUT UP, GROW UP, AND STOP HARRASSING OUR COLLEAGUES! We're supposed to show each other the proper respect regardless of what ships we like or dislike and if you can't act right then you have no business being here if you're only going to be bullies. And not shipping West-Allen does NOT make them race traitors or anything else you want to call them. **

**And just because I like West-Allen does not mean that Iris has some flaws, which she's had for a while, and needs to mature and all of you should stop following your mantra that she can do no wrong since she can and has. SO CUT IT OUT AT ONCE IN REGARDS TO WHAT YOU'RE DOJNG TO MY COLLEAGUES!**

**And to those who're treating my colleagues with respect, thank you very much for doing so and for not harassing them but instead are showing them kindness and accepting that they're not interested in certain ships, both sides getting along here.**

**Have a great day.**


End file.
